386 Stanwood, Nests of the Magnolia Warbler. [o"t. 



with spider's silk. One of these nests was placed on a forked 

 branch near the end of a long spruce bough some three feet above 

 the ground; the other between the extreme tips of the branches 

 of two little fir trees, at about the same height as the former. 



A typical nest was about If inches wide inside at the top, and 

 li inches deep, the bottom a half inch thick, and the walls at the 

 top three fourths of an inch thick. All the nests somewhat re- 

 semble in shape the bowl of a spoon. In three nests there were four 

 cream-white eggs in each, with the pinkish tinge that nearly all 

 freshly laid eggs have, spotted in a ring around the larger end with 

 reddish brown, umber, and black. There were minute specks 

 over the entire egg. 



In the first nest, which was unique in many respects, the eggs 

 were marked with burnt umber all over the larger end, as if a 

 person had scrawled over them with a Japanese brush. 



The eggs were laid on four successive days before 8.30 a. m. On 

 the fourth day the female took up the task of incubation before 

 10.30 A. M. 



If one comes cautiously to the nest while the bird is incubating, 

 the startled little mother usually slides silently into the under- 

 growth and remains there. Once when I waited by the nest a 

 long time, the bird returned to scold, but kept carefully out of 

 sight and chirped very little. Another bird when flushed from 

 the nest flew to a near-by tree and fell like a dead weight from 

 the limb with (apparently) a broken wing. 



In twelve days the eggs "had wings, and beak, and breast." 



On the fourth day one of the nestlings opened its eyes, tiny 

 slits, but it closed them quickly as if afraid of the light. The 

 fledglings were burnt orange in color, covered with long, dark 

 brown down. The quills and feather tracts were well indicated. 



On the eighth day the nest was empty, but I saw the young 

 birds fluttering through the trees with the parent birds, only a few 

 yards from the nest. Probably the violent rain and thunder storm 

 of the day before had hastened their departure. (The other nests 

 were either destroyed or the young eluded my vigilance.) When 

 the young birds were in the trees near the nest, the old bird exposed 

 herself most needlessly. All her caution seemed to have vanished. 

 It was an effort to attract attention to herself from the young 

 birds, who were immature and noisy. 



